


Two Brothers

by Walkinthegarden



Category: Property Brothers RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Angst, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Major Original Character(s), Not Happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-31
Updated: 2015-03-31
Packaged: 2018-03-20 15:38:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3655680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Walkinthegarden/pseuds/Walkinthegarden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Scott Brothers grew up with Lacey Wentwood, both considered her a sister, but she only ever called one of them brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Brothers

**Author's Note:**

> I would just like to state ahead of time that I have no vendetta against the fashion industry. That being said, I have a friend who was a model and her experience was about as bad as you can get. I'm not saying it can't be a good career, I'm just basing this on her experience. 
> 
> There might be a sequel to this, the thought is already tumbling around in my head. It would be multi-chaptered.

Drew has known Lacey since she was just a babbling infant on her mother's hip. Their mothers’ were best friend, making them staples in each other’s homes. He saw everything, from her first steps to the first time she rode a bike.

 

Being raised alongside each other, the three children (JD wasn’t there long enough to count) grew up considering each other siblings. Despite the age gap between them, not even blood siblings could have been closer. Of course, by nature, none of their relationships were near equal. As time went on, it became painfully obvious that the strongest bond was between Jonathan and Lacey. Logically, it had made sense to Drew, Jonathan was – and still is – the more laid back twin, easy going, outwardly emotional, and driven. In addition to all that, Jonathan isn’t crippled by OCD, making it easier for him to kiss and cuddle with the children he loves so much. He doesn’t hesitate for that fraction of a second, something children too easily pick up. It was because of Drew’s own hesitation that it was always Jonathan that beat him to holding Lacey as a little girl. It was because of Drew’s own neat freakiness that it was always Jonathan that had bounced Lacey on his knee, so that when it was time for her to learn how to ride a bike, it was Jonathan she asked. These moments were what created the unshakeable bond between the two, what prompted her to call Jonathan brother. The first time she said it to Jonathan, it had broken Drew’s heart, he’d assured himself she’d say it to him one day, but she never did. It wasn’t that Drew hadn’t loved her, Jonathan had just loved her _better_.

 

He hasn't seen her in over a year, not since last Christmas, when she came through the door with a picture perfect boyfriend on her arm. Jonathan had gone to her immediately, scooping her up in his arms and greeting her boyfriend with a cleverly worded threat. They'd spent the whole holiday together, giving Drew no incentive to even attempt to catch up with her. The relationship they’d shared in their childhood was all but gone. She only had eyes for the one she considered her brother and best friend.

 

Because they are barely more than friendly strangers to each other now, you can understand Drew's shock when his assistant informs him that the now twenty-three year old version of his mother's best friend's daughter, is sitting in his office. Despite the fact that he'd only planned to drop in a minute, curiosity gets the better of him, and he decides to see why she has come all this way without any notice to see _him_ of all people.

 

When he opens the door to his office, it takes him a moment to recognize her. She’s not dressed to the nines like usual, in fact she looks the most casual he’s ever seen her. She’s dressed in jeans, a tank top, and jeans jacket, with her golden blonde hair swept up into a high ponytail. The last time he saw her in something other than a dress or skirt, they were still kids going on a bike ride. He likes this look better, she looks kinder, younger, but something is off about her. There is something in her eye, an off-putting confusion that looks so out of place on her usual self. Where is the confidant young woman whose eyes betray no emotion? But the bigger question, asked by the bitter part of him, wants to know why she’s here with him instead of Jonathan.

 

"Drew," she says, and even her voice is different, "I need your help."

 

He fights the bitter feeling that rises in his throat. She wants something, of course she does. He’s the sensible acquaintance that’s instantly graduated to friend when it becomes suddenly convenient. He’s Drew Scott, the all work and no play man that gets things done. She needs something and he’s likely her easiest way to get it. He’s about to tell her that whatever it is, he can’t help when he notices the charm bracelet he got her for her sixteenth birthday dangling from her wrist. That bracelet, when he presented it to her, was the one moment that he had over Jonathan. He’d taken such care in picking it out for her, the only gift he'd put so much effort into when it came to her. He listens to her, which he always did, and he was the only one that noticed all the clues. She had never even mentioned wanting a charm bracelet, but he noticed the way she’d admire them whenever someone wore them on TV or in person. When he gave it to her, he could tell immediately that the gift itself meant nothing to her, it was the emotion he’d put into it, the meaning behind it that had made her cry as she threw her arms around him. He notices the slightly worn little house that sits right next to a slightly worn little hammer. They’d been close(ish) once.

 

“Are you okay?” Drew asks, his voice sounding much more calm than he feels. He won’t let her see the battle raging inside him. She makes him feel like a kid again, insecure and nervous.

 

“No,” she whispers, and it takes Drew a fraction of a second to realize the dam is about to break. Whatever this is, is much bigger than he expected. “I can’t… I can’t.” Her voice fades away as tears begin to pour down her cheeks.

 

In truth, he doesn’t have the time for this, but family is important and he will _make_ time for this. He goes into fix it mode. He takes her by the shoulders and leads her to the couch. She looks so vulnerable and it honestly scares him. He quickly sends a text to his assistant with a simple: _Cancel the rest of my day. I’ll let you know about tomorrow._ He knows it’ll probably give his assistant a heart attack, but now he can’t be a workaholic, he needs to do what he does best, fix things.

 

He crouches down in front of her, hoping to appear less assuming. “Lacey, you’re okay,” he promises, trying to keep himself calm, “you’re safe. I need you to take a deep breath and tell me what’s wrong.”

 

“I…” she struggles to get her breathing under control, finally she turns her eyes up to meet his, “I need your help. I n-need to get out.”

 

He furrows his eyebrows, so out of touch with her life that he doesn’t have even an idea of what she’s into that she might need help getting out of. She’s a model, he knows that, she’s been one since his and Jonathan’s brief stint as models. He has one of the magazines she’s been on the cover of framed over his couch alongside one of him and Jonathan and another of JD.

 

“Of what?” he presses gently, resting his hand on her knees.

 

She bites her lip before finally taking a deep breath. “My job, Drew, I need to get _out_.”

 

Maybe he should be surprised, but he’s not. He’s been a model, he knows the pressures and anxiety that come with such a stressful job. He’d been older and had discovered quickly that he didn’t want that kind of life. She’d been somewhere in the ball park of twelve when she fell into the seedy business of fashion. A young beautiful girl like her, he knows the horrible circumstances she’d probably fallen under. It makes too much sense and anger slowly simmers beneath the surface. He hates to think what horrible things she might have gone through that pushed her to come see him to get her out.

 

He doesn’t ask her what happened, he knows enough that whatever it is he needs to take it seriously, and that it’s something she’ll probably tell Jonathan instead. Now he _knows_ it’s _not_ the right time, but he can’t help himself this little selfish request.

 

“Why did you come to me?” he asks her. “Why not Jonathan?”

 

Her head snaps up violently. Her eyes narrow slightly, but not in anger or resentment, instead she looks confused. She turns her head slightly and opens and closes her mouth a few times.

 

“Why do you think I wouldn’t come to you?” she asks him, tilting her head in confusion.

 

“Because you’ve always liked him more,” he blurts out before he can think. He surprised even himself with that answer, it’s far too raw and vulnerable. It’s something he’d never say normally, but her eyes soften and her lips twitch.

 

“No I didn’t,” she says in a motherly tone, “you were strong and fiercely independent. You didn’t need me Drew. Even as a toddler I knew that.”

 

He splutter at her words, the last thing he’d expected her to say. What is she talking about? Jonathan was and is as independent as he am. “I don’t understand.”

 

“You, Drew, knew exactly what to do no matter the situation. You know how to stand on your own two feet no matter how many times people try and knock them out from under you. Jonathan is different, strong as he is, he is nothing without someone to love and hold on to. He needed someone to take care of, to make himself feel valued. Whether it was you or myself or JD or your parents or his friends never mattered,” she replies soothingly. Then her eyebrows furrow and she looks pained. “I never meant to make you think I didn’t love you as much as him. Maybe I focused too much on Jonathan, but I loved you just as much. On the surface Jonathan and I are just more compatible. Jonathan sees me as a perfect little girl to protect though, you see me as an equal, a person with faults and misgivings.”

 

He blinks, trying to absorb everything she’s telling him. He never thought of that, of Jonathan’s need to be needed. She’s always been as much of a fixer as he is. Perhaps she really hadn’t meant to hurt him. It would mean the twenty three years of insecurity were for nothing. She had not baulked at his obsessive compulsive behavior, nor had she gone running into the arms of Jonathan for it. It never ceases to amaze him how much one misunderstanding can change how you look at a lifetime.

 

Drew doesn’t touch, not if he can help it. He hates so much as a handshake, and before he even realizes it he’s wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. She gladly returns his hug and he marvels at how easy it is to hug her. Maybe this is what their relationship could have been like if he’d allowed himself to be as open as Jonathan in their youth. If he’d said something, taken her from Jonathan despite his moment’s hesitation. If he’d maybe just spent half the time tossing her into the air like Jonathan had, or even just spent more time with her as a teenager when he’d gotten his OCD tendencies under control.

 

“You’re my big brother, every bit as much as Jonathan,” she whispers against his ear.

 

He vows to help her, no matter the cost, even if he needs to spend all the money he has on lawyers. He will get her out, he promises.


End file.
